Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained for several hours at Munich Airport on Wednesday after he allegedly failed to declare a luxury watch that he was planning to sell at an auction in aid of his climate crises charity, according to multiple reports.
"None of the people I know and sat next to on our commercial flight filled out a declaration form, including Arnold — he got to customs, and they told him he was 'randomly' selected to be searched," Schwarzenegger's representative Daniel Ketchell told The Washington Post. "During the search, he answered every single question the customs officer asked, so to say he didn't declare anything is 100% false."
Speaking with USA Today, a source said that Schwarzenegger "cooperated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown, a total comedy of errors that would make a very funny cop movie."
Reportedly, officers took Schwarzenegger to a bank to withdraw cash. He had agreed to pre-pay potential taxes on the watch. However, they faced a setback when the bank turned out to be closed, and the ATM limit was too low.
"When he returned, a new officer brought a new credit card machine that worked," the source claimed, adding that the watch is still "likely" to be auctioned off.
The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative "will properly report it, as all of Arnold's nonprofits do."
According to Thomas Meister, a spokesperson for the customs office, criminal tax proceedings have been launched because Schwarzenegger's imported watch requires registration.
"If the goods remain in the EU, you have to declare them through customs," a customs spokesperson told local media, according to the Guardian. "This applies to everyone, whether their name is Schwarzenegger or Müller, Meier, Huber."
Audemars Piguet, the renowned Swiss luxury watchmaker, crafted a watch exclusively for Schwarzenegger. The watch and other items are due to be auctioned off at an event in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel on Thursday night.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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